Women's Leadership Forum

We hear daily about someone being abused or someone revealing their abuse in our churches and communities.  We worry about our children’s safety from the prospect of abuse.  We ourselves may have walked that road and struggle with its effects on our lives.  What do we do and how can we be proactive in our churches to protect and care for the abused?  

In this session, learn what you need to be aware of on this topic and how to respond well in your church.  Join our discussion on this most important topic as leaders of women. 

Join our discussion to examine three women’s real-life scenarios. These scenarios will be common ones found in our churches and communities. As leaders, being aware, and ready to care and resource them well is the first step in effective leadership. This session will give you first-hand experience to be able to care for similar situations well. 

The nations are coming to us. We are experiencing a shift in our communities that invites us to better understand other cultures. In order to lead well, we must live well. Live with an open heart and mind that God is doing something new.  How can we position ourselves to love like Jesus more? As we seek Godly truths and practical ways to live and lead, we begin to bridge a gap that often exists in our cultures. Let's journey through this together. 

Lifeway Research surveyed 1,000 pastors in the past year and discovered that out of 44 needs, the top challenge was developing leaders and volunteers. If this is true of the entire church, then women's ministry leaders are facing the same difficulty. This session will focus on theological and practical ways to recruit, retain, and celebrate those who are serving the body of Christ. 

Do you feel a deep desire to write or publish a book or Bible study, but have no idea where to start? You aren't alone. Many writers want to understand the behind-the-scenes process of the publishing industry. Come and learn from Lifeway's experts in the areas of writing, editing, designing, and marketing in order to better serve your church and fulfill your dreams to publish your writing to a greater audience.   

The recent Dobbs Supreme Court decision has overturned Roe, meaning abortion is no longer a constitutionally protected right in our country. This is good news for the pro-life movement, yet even in a post-Roe world, there is still much to be done to care well for the vulnerable.  

The church has the opportunity to engage and reclaim the truth that every person is made in the image of God and should be affirmed and protected. This is a critical time in our nation’s history. It is a moment to lament the lives lost, while we equip the body of Christ with knowledge and hope for a future where every person is valued with inherent dignity. 

The stories of women in the Bible can help inform how we see ourselves today as women. When we have a correct overview of how God sees women, we can aspire to be women who live and lead with a God-centered confidence. In this session we will learn how to dive deeper into the stories of key women in scripture as we observe qualities like courage, resourcefulness, wisdom, and strong faith. 

We know one of the common characteristics of women’s ministry leaders is that of feeling isolated and alone in your role. This will give you the opportunity to enjoy a guided time of relaxed discussion with women around your table as you share encouragement and strategy and help strengthen one another in your leadership roles. 

Many of us struggle in the in-between of knowing the call God has put on our lives and running our race well. Whether it’s comparison, insecurity, stress, or a multitude of other things, we often get distracted and lose sight of the unique race God has called each of us to run. We’ll look at Scripture and be challenged to run the race He has set before us. The finish line is the same for each of us - we’re running towards Jesus and Christlikeness, so let’s do it together! 

Well-crafted messages are not synonymous with well received messages. A well-received message builds on a foundation and inspires new understanding. This session explores a few considerations beyond the oratory portion of a presentation that every speaker/presenter needs to know.   

The way Americans are thinking, believing, and processing the world around them is changing. We can’t love our community without knowing them. We will review recent findings from Lifeway Research on these trends and discuss ways our ministries can meet people where they are with the Gospel. 

Bible engagement is the number one spiritual discipline from which all other disciplines flow.  Many have access to the Bible but do not engage with the Bible.  This breakout session will teach you a practical way to abide in God's Word and how to apply God's Word to your life today.  You will learn a journaling method called HEART and leave encouraged and ready to engage in Scripture. 

How do we move forward when life falls apart? It seems easier to pull away from God than to move toward the One who let all this happen. Drawing from her own experiences in losing an infant son, losing her marriage, and being diagnosed with a debilitating disease, Vaneetha shares the beauty of lament God and the breathtaking way God met her in her suffering. 

We often enter suffering with unspoken questions like, “Why did this happen?” Or “What if this never gets better?” Vaneetha will share how God’s character and commitment to us can answer our deepest questions as she offers the three anchors that she clings to in her suffering. These truths will offer you hope in your own struggles and tools to minister to others around you. 

Do you have a desire to teach God's word but don't know where to start? Do you wonder what the Bible says about women teaching the Bible? This session will discuss why it is needful for women to teach the Scriptures in the local church. Practical tools for developing a teaching ministry will be discussed. 

Ministry life is FULL of pressures--both positive and negative. Making the goal of our lives to know Christ is admirable and honorable, but do we comprehend the cost?   While the modern church focuses so much of our lives on outward successes, Paul challenges us to realize that it doesn't matter what pedigree we have in the religious world if we don't intimately know the One who has called and given us the place we serve. Himself imprisoned while writing to the Philippians; Paul explained how we are to know Christ--forgetting what lies behind us, we keep running toward the prize promised by the One who called us.   Let's discuss what it takes for a ministry wife to stay focused and motivated to finish the race set before her! 

The world has always been full of trials, disappointments, temptations, fractured friendships, and financial hardships. Yet Paul’s letter to the Philippians claims we can discover true contentment and lasting peace during it all by prioritizing what matters most—Jesus. In this spiritually practical breakout, you will learn to experience joyful calm despite your circumstances, develop gospel-centered tools to navigate relational conflict, and banish anxiety by implementing biblical practices to allow you to rest in the peace of Christ.   

Each of us has experienced some version of loss, love & legacy. In many respects, these are the three unofficial stages of Ruth’s journey. As we take a birds-eye view of this 4-chapter book of the Bible, we’ll not only follow the compelling stories of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz, but we’ll discover God’s redemptive power to take even the hardest of circumstances and transform them into unimaginable blessings. 

One of the best thing parents can do for their children is teach them how to make wise decisions. In this breakout, discover how you can transition your kids into young adulthood or help families who are in this life stage. 

Many Christians today are daunted by the Bible, seeing the size and scope of Scripture as intimidating and overwhelming. The result is often a fragmented understanding of parts of the Bible, which leads us to fail to see how the entirety of Scripture works together to show a bigger story—God's work to redeem and restore the entire world. Weaving together the rich theological truths found in Genesis through Revelation, this workshop will help you understand and explain the story of Scripture and find your place in it. 

Women desperately need community. But quarantine, busyness and a general misunderstanding of biblical connection have kept women from thriving in relationships together. This breakout looks at the biblical case for life in community, and examines a case study for how to cultivate female friendships in the body of Christ. 

How do we discover our leadership presence? How do we find our voice? How do we fulfill the ministry God has called us to? Do you struggle to see yourself as a leader? Do you feel unqualified, inexperienced, or just plain “not enough”? Join Transformation Church co-founder and Executive Director of Discipleship, Vicki Gray, for a sacred moment of equipping and encouragement as we learn to discover our leadership presence. 

Failures are repeated, refined attempts toward success. They produce a bedrock of knowledge and wisdom necessary to every leader. Why, then, do we avoid talking about them? This session invites you, the attendee, to share your failing forward experiences. Join other leaders in openly talking about missteps that shaped their leadership journeys. 

Whether you’re young, inexperienced, or feel like you’re leading from the end of the line, it’s critical to learn how to lead those around you by leading up. In this collaborative session, we’ll explore the challenges many leaders face and discuss how to work with others effectively and humbly, even if you are the aren’t the one in charge.  

In a culture plagued by confusion and relativity, Generation Z is begging for clarity and truth. They will either look to the world or to the Church for answers regarding their life, purpose, and identity. As believers, we have a responsibility to raise up the next generation to be equipped with the truth of who Jesus is and what God's Word says. Let's fight for Gen Z to bow before Jesus and escape bending to the wind and waves of culture. 

Whether you seek to serve and lead, or just feel like you fell into leadership, it is a calling God has placed in your heart. Out of obedience, you must follow that call. Once you accept God's assignment, often there is a season of challenges that occur that might make you want to give up! There is a cost to leadership that can surprise you! But the cost is small in comparison to how He will lead you to know Him better through each sacrifice. We will look at some of these “costs” and our willingness to embrace them as we consider how our leading exalts the name of Jesus. 

In this session, you'll hear from Angie Elkins on the importance and impact a podcast can have on your ministry, as well as the basics of starting a podcast.  It's so hard to know where to start and what resources to trust. Do you even need a podcast?  Get your podcasting answers in this session.